


Fire and the Flood

by Robot Zombie Pineapples (CyborgWithGreatHair)



Category: Stephanie Plum - Janet Evanovich
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Happy Ending, POV Third Person, Ranger's Perspective, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29692629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyborgWithGreatHair/pseuds/Robot%20Zombie%20Pineapples
Summary: When the universe deigns to throw Ranger a bone, he makes it his mission to make the most of it in this series of snapshots depicting the progression of his relationship with one Stephanie Plum from working acquaintances to their fated happily ever after. Loosely inspired by the song Fire and the Flood by Vance Joy.
Relationships: Ricardo Carlos Manoso/Stephanie Plum
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. In the Cold I Stood

_**Fire and the Flood** _

**Chapter 1: In the Cold I Stood**

The Rangeman garage was uncharacteristically quiet, even for that time of night, as Ranger emerged from the stairwell dressed in some old, comfy sweats with his key fob in hand. His eyes roved the area habitually as he started on his way to the gate that lead to the street, but froze when his eyes landed on the empty car space where his Porsche usually resided. _Not anymore,_ he thought, recalling that it had been violently jettisoned to car heaven that afternoon. A curly-haired woman flashed up in his mind, eyes wide and innocent as she declared – not for the first time, and definitely not the last – that 'it wasn't her fault'. He couldn't help the slight smile that played at his lips as he shook his head.

The smile faded just as quickly as it appeared, though, doused by the heavy knot of unease that had prevented him from falling asleep and, ultimately, driven him from the apartment. He'd thought to go for a run to clear his head and wear himself out, but now another thought was edging into the front of his mind. Well, edging might be too mild a verb. It was more like it had rappelled down from the ceiling and was now shouting into a megaphone to convert all other thoughts to it's viewpoint: go check on Stephanie Plum.

So he changed course, snatched a set of SUV keys from the locked box on the wall, and slid behind the wheel of a Rangeman fleet vehicle, proceeding to navigate the sleepy Trenton streets until he pulled into a very familiar parking lot. H _ow many nights had he spent sitting in his car in the shadowy back corner of the lot, just watching the building, afraid to look away lest he miss some sign of life from within, or a threat creeping onto the scene from without?_ He couldn't fathom such a level of stillness tonight, though. His usual internal calm that had served him so well on those long, lonely nights on government missions was slipping through his fingers, leaving him restless and itching to move.

Something about the incident from the afternoon had him rattled. The car death hadn't been the usual bombing or random act of God. Stephanie had been the target in a drive-by shooting. And scared the shit out of him.

As she'd idled in the Porsche at a set of traffic lights, a car full of slayers had rolled to a stop beside her, opened fire, caught her in the arm and ignited the gas tank, before roaring away on a light that was still red. Stephanie had barely made it out of the car and to the sidewalk nearby before it had exploded.

Ranger didn't like how close a call it had been, but at the same time, he wasn't sure the near-miss was the whole reason for his lack of serenity right now.

He slid out from the driver's seat, shaking out his limbs and moving fluidly through a number of stretches, his gaze locked on that dark, second floor window the entire time. He needed to assure himself that she was okay, that she was alive and well. Ordinarily, he would have wasted no time in ascending the stairs to her apartment and picking the lock, but the unrest inside him gave him pause. It was like the universe was cautioning him against hasty actions. So instead, he set out at a jog across the lot, weaving through the surrounding streets for an hour before slowing to a walk as he re-entered the lot.

His gaze was instantly drawn to the soft glow highlighting that same second storey window and the figures silhouetted against the thin curtains. Figures. Plural. One was the unmistakeable wild curls of Stephanie Plum, the other… he cut his eyes to the cars around him, spotting the beat up green truck immediately. A chill wind picked up around him, biting at his skin where a light sheen of sweat had gathered from his run.

Morelli.

Ranger's fists clenched at his sides. Anger and frustration flooded his body. He wasn't entirely sure what it was he wanted with Stephanie, but he did know for certain that the cop was not the right fit for her. They had history, sure, but that did not translate into a healthy relationship or the ability for Morelli to comprehend and support what it was Steph wanted and needed from life.

That wasn't to say that Ranger had a clear idea of her needs and desires, but he was at least determined to provide whatever support and guidance she needed as she figured out the direction of her own life. Stephanie had long been rebelling against the innate ideals of the Burg, but willingly kept returning to play house with a man who wanted nothing more than to keep her as barefooted and pregnant as the Burg stereotype dictated.

Ranger couldn't just openly oppose her relationship, though. Telling a woman that she shouldn't be with another man was not the way to win her heart. So the best he could do was continue to lurk in her periphery, giving her what she needed and accepting the decisions she made. Stephanie was a fiercely independent woman, and he would not be the one to clip her wings just as she was figuring out how to fly. Her own mother had been doing enough of that her entire life.

Letting out a long, slow breath, Ranger tucked his hands into his pockets to protect them from the cold, and leaned against hood of his own SUV to wait and watch.

The two silhouettes stood facing each other for the longest time. _They must be talking_ , he thought, though he wondered what could possibly be so important that it needed to be discussed at one in the morning when Stephanie had been though an ordeal and was likely on painkillers for her gunshot wound. One option rose tentatively in his mind, but he squashed it down before the thought had a chance to take root. No point in getting his hopes up.

By the time the silhouettes merged briefly before separating and disappearing from the window, Ranger was shivering from the cold that had seeped into his bones. But he couldn't bring himself to climb back in his vehicle and drive away. He had to know that Steph was okay, and he had to know what the situation was with the cop.

A couple minutes later, the light in the window was turned off, returning the side of the building to one monotonous construction of bricks and windows with no way to discern one apartment from the others unless you knew exactly where to look. Ranger was just about to give in to the cold and at least hunker down in the car with the heater on when the door that lead to the lobby opened and none other than Joseph Morelli himself appeared in the soft glow from the parking lot lights.

He paused briefly to pull the collar of his jacket closer around him to protect his neck, his eyes scanning the lot as he started forward. Ranger knew the moment the cop spotted him, because he immediately changed direction, making a beeline for his dimly lit corner. He made no move to meet the man halfway, instead using the time it took him to weave through the car toward him to get his body back under control, suppressing the shivers and loosening his shoulders.

"She's all yours," Morelli said flatly after a full sixty seconds of tense eye contact between the two men. "There's not enough Pepto Bismol in the world to keep up with the ulcer she's given me."

"You really think the best time to step down is when she's caught in the middle of a gang war?" Ranger questioned quietly. He didn't want to believe his luck. He also couldn't believe the cowardice Morelli was showing by abandoning Stephanie during this latest crisis.

"Don't get me wrong," Morelli said on a sigh. "I'm doing everything in my power to put an end to this circus, but I just can't deal with the constant worry. Being with Steph is terrible for my health."

Ranger could think of a few things he could do to the man that would be far more hazardous to his health, but wisely chose not to share them. The universe was giving him an opportunity, going to jail for assaulting a police officer would not be a good show of thanks. He just nodded and accepted the hand Morelli offered to shake.

"I know she's safe with you," Morelli said as he walked away, leaving Ranger to stand there in the cold, staring up at the dark window once more and contemplating how on earth he would make the most of the bone he'd been thrown.


	2. Anywhere I Go

The first couple times, it happened purely by accident. Ranger had been going about his day the same as always when suddenly, there was Stephanie Plum. It was serendipitous. It was fate. It was testing the limits of his control. He wanted nothing more than to stake his claim, mark her as his territory, but he simply did not want to be just another man passing through her bed. She was worth more than that, but how was he supposed to orchestrate a plan wot win his way into her life when his own life was such a bombshell to launch on her. There were risks. A lot of risks. For both of them, so it was a matter of figuring out how much risk was an acceptable amount in a normal relationship, and how much more than that they could both tolerate (since neither of them could be considered normal when assessed against the standards set by their respective societies).

The problem was, there was a disconnect between Ranger's head and his heart. His head told him to hang back, let her deal with her break-up at her own pace, in her own way, and just be there if she needed him. It was the rational, strategic approach that he was best known for. But his heart had clearly missed the 'take it slow' memo. The slightest hint of Stephanie Plum in the same vicinity as him, and Ranger's heart was jumping up and down and screaming at him to whisk her away to somewhere more private and just… well, the details were a bit hazy, but the sentiments were clear: clothes were not necessary.

Two days after the night he'd kept vigil in her parking lot, he'd happened to pull into the space behind her out front of the bonds office just as she was getting out of Big Blue – her faithful interim vehicle for when she sent yet another car to the big scrap yard in the sky – and experienced his first grapple with self-control.

Okay, maybe not his first… And definitely not his last.

Stephanie waited on the sidewalk for him to catch up with her, probably intending for them to enter the office together. By the time Ranger reached her side, though, his heart had seized the controls and he found himself leading her around the side of the building to the alley. He told himself he just wanted to check that she was all right without the other ladies ogling them as was their habit. But realistically, Connie and Lula had probably spotted them through the plate glass windows and were now speculating on what they might be doing in the alley.

Ranger knew what he wanted to do. It was what he always wanted to do when he had Steph alone. He'd even given into the urge a fair few times in this very alley. But this was different. There was no relationship with Morelli to cause her to hesitate and pull back, which meant that if she _were_ to pump the breaks, it would be for some other reason. This stern knowledge from his head dampened the heart's enthusiasm as he turned to face Steph and he resolved to keep his hands to himself, at least for now.

"Babe," he said cryptically. His tone suggested one of the many questions clawing up his throat, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out which one had managed to stomp on the fingers of it's opponents and win the race to his lips and beyond. That was the beauty of his one word greetings, though, Steph was used to interpreting them for herself.

She sighed. "I know," she said wearily, her previously confident posture deflating some as she leaned back against the brick wall behind her. Ranger had to slide his hands into his pockets to stop himself from pinning her there and taking what he wanted. "I look like shit. I'm a wreak. I haven't been sleeping."

This was most definitely not the meaning his single syllable utterance had been trying to convey, but now that he took a moment to really look her over, she did appear to be more dishevelled than usual for this early in the day. And the bags under her eyes were big enough that she could easily have packed for a month abroad in them.

"Anything I can help with?" Ranger asked, rather than correct her interpretation. She was spot on in translating his tone into actual words about eighty percent of the time, which served him well, but what surprised him was that it was the twenty percent of the time when she got his meaning _wrong_ that was the most informative, revealing more about her state of being than he'd ever hoped to discover.

"Not unless you can get the Slayers to stop coming after me without killing them all," Steph said on a yawn.

And even now, the temptation to kiss her and somehow ease her concerns was trying to overwhelm him. Instead, Ranger allowed himself to reach out and tucked an errant curl behind her ear, letting his fingertips linger on her jawline just a second longer than necessary. "I'll send Hector and Cal around to talk things through, see if we can't come to an agreement," he suggested, reluctantly dropping his hand to his side.

Steph's eyes narrowed. "Why is it that a 'talk' between your men and the Slayers brings to mind fists flying and men being held in the air by their throats?"

 _Probably because that's exactly how I expect it to go_ , Ranger though, but all he said was, "Babe."

*o*

The following afternoon, Ranger was on his way back to Haywood after a routine client check in when he spotted Big Blue in the mall carpark as he passed and the next thing he knew, he was pulling into a space half a dozen cars down, trying to decide if he should bring up one of Steph's purse trackers to seek her out of leave it up to fate.

He had his phone in hand, still deliberating, when he reached the entrance to the mall and almost collided with the very woman occupying his thoughts.

"Sorry," she said automatically. "I wasn't watching where I was- Ranger?"

Ranger smiled. "Babe."

"What are you doing here?" she asked, a mix of suspicion and concern flooding her features. And rightfully so. Under normal circumstances there were only a couple of situations that Ranger could think of that would lead to his presence at a mall, and none of them involved a casual shopping trip.

A convenient lie spilled from his lips before he could throw up the appropriate road blocks to stop it. "I need a present for my mother," he said. "Her birthday is coming up and I've been informed that I'm not allowed to skip the party, so I figured I better hadn't show up empty handed." It wasn't completely untrue. His mother's birthday _was_ coming up. He _had_ been threatened with bodily harm if he didn't show up. And he _did_ think it would be poor etiquette to arrive without a present. He'd just left out the part where he'd already asked Ella to pick something out. He hated lying to Steph, but his head and heart were still locked in a conflict of interests, so while he wanted to seize every opportunity to spend time with her, he also didn't want to force her into anything before she was ready. The tiny falsehood offered her a chance to make a decision for herself.

Unfortunately, his explanation did nothing to wipe away either the suspicion or the concern from her expression. In fact, if anything the creases in her forehead only deepened, her usually voluptuous lips pulling into a thin, unimpressed line.

"Something's happened with the gangs, hasn't it?" she questioned, glancing over shoulder before stepping closer to Ranger. "Why else would you show up like this when I already have Rangeman Babysitters watching my back? Her head jerked first toward the black escalade in the front row of the car park, then to Hal lurking several feet away. _How had he not noticed them before?_ "Not to mention the fake story about needing to shop," she added. "If you need me to go back inside, just tell me like you usually do."

It took all his power not to wrap his arms around this gorgeous woman the second she entered his space. Even as his eyebrows flew off his face at the way she saw straight through his lie, he fought to keep his hands loose at his side. "Babe," he started, searching for a way to correct her, but she shook her head, cutting him off.

"Don't try to deny it, Ranger," she warned. "I've known you long enough to learn how you operate. Even if the stuff about your mom's birthday _is_ true, you'd have gotten Ella to deal with the present for you, not come to the mall, of all places, yourself."

Ranger was speechless. When did he let her over the fortress walls? He prided himself on being unknowable, but here was a deceptively strong woman, with enchanting blue eyes, systematically disarming all the defenses he'd built around him over the years. He didn't know if he wanted to kiss her or run as far and as fast as he could.

"Well?" she prompted.

Her body, still so close to his he could feel the warmth of it radiating around him, was like a drug, muddying his thoughts, making it hard for him to discern a winner between the two combatants once more waging battle within him. At a loss, he simply lifted a hand between her chest and his own, subtly gesturing toward the automatic doors Steph had just emerged from. "Humour me?" he requested.

They spent two hours browsing the shops while Ranger spilled information about his mother than he would normally have kept locked in a box and on a high shelf in the back of his mind, guarded by the most intricate of security measures. Sharing information about his family left both him and them vulnerable to anyone who saw fit to use it against him, but with Stephanie Plum, he just couldn't help himself. He'd apparently already let her in more than he'd meant to over the years, and she hadn't drawn away from him yet, so he may as well use this opportunity to practice opening up. If he wanted a relationship with her, he'd have to start sometime.

They'd eventually parted ways back in the parking lot with a heated kiss that Ranger simply could not hold in it's cage any longer. She slid behind the wheel of her indestructible blue tank with glazed eyes and a dreamy smile, and had somehow managed to navigate her way out of the carpark without ending up in an accident. Ranger allowed himself a small smile as he watched the Buick and it's Rangeman escort disappear around the corner before tucking the gift wrapped box under his arm and walking the short distance to his own car, vowing to seize more opportunities like today to spend time with that amazing woman, even if he had to seek her out and pretend he just happened to be driving by to do it.


	3. Fire and the Flood

Ranger was halfway through his shower, covered in Bulgari soap suds and giving himself a mental pep talk to get him through an evening spent with his loving and well-meaning family when a short siren sounded on his phone, jolting him from his thoughts. It was the alert tone he'd set up for any time one of Steph's trackers went offline. Hastily, he started rinsing the soap from his body as the alert tone sounded again. And then again hen he shut the water off. And once more as he quickly dried his hands on a towel and picked up the device, a knot forming in his stomach as he brought up the tracker app.

The signal had been lost on four of the five trackers he knew to be actively in use. The chip in her phone, the pen tracker, and the coin shaped devices he'd managed to drop in her wallet and messenger bag were all flashing red with the last known location. And in the second it took him to discover this information, the fifth and final tracker blipped off, sending another siren echoing through the bathroom and landing heavily in Ranger's soul.

This wasn't good.

Dropping the phone back onto the counter, he forwent any kind of drying routine, in favour of pulling the same cargos and t-shirt he'd worn today onto his still damp body. He snatched up the phone again, stuffing it in his pocket as he sprinted across the bedroom to stuff his feet into the first pair of shoes he found before racing out the door and down all seven flights of stairs to the garage. He felt naked without his utility belt and weapons but reminded himself that there were more important things right now. He'd just have to make do with the spare sidearm he kept under the driver's seat.

The second he was out on the street, his phone rang and he answered via the Bluetooth speaker system with a barked order for the caller to ' _Report!'_

"Hank and Rodrigues are on route, ETA four minutes," Tank said, knowing that he wouldn't need to explain what had happened or where Steph was. Ranger already had all of that information burned into his brain and constricting his chest. "Bystander called emergency services, trifecta on the way. Bobby should be a couple minutes behind."

That covered the response side of Tank's report, but the man paused, hesitating in a way that Ranger was not used to dealing with. The panic growing inside him was like a wildfire, just waiting for an opportunity to jump a river and consume everything in its path. "How bad?" he demanded, his foot pressing harder on the accelerator when the cars in front of him suddenly cleared. He knew he needed to stay calm, but even with his military training and conditioning, he was having a hard time locking his emotions back in their trunk.

"Witness told dispatch that a car was rammed off the Calhoun street bridge. Guard rails fail, the car plunged into the water."

"Fuck!" Ranger yelled, slamming the steering wheel with his fist. He'd known it had to be bad. The chances of _all_ of her trackers failing simultaneously were slim, but not unheard of. Last time, Steph had left her bag in her latest shitbox while she'd ducked into her parents' house to pick up a basket of clean laundry when the car had exploded. Steph had been safe and sound on the porch. Up until the moment Tank uttered those words, that bare minimum description of what had occurred, Ranger had been hoping that something similar had occurred this time around.

The call ended abruptly, but it's anyone's guess who'd hit the little red button to disconnect. Ranger was in a state, barely in control as he devoted all his brain power to closing the distance between himself and the bridge that was Steph's last known location. And while Tank could handle his boss and best friend under almost any circumstance, the current situation fell outside his comfort zone. If it was anyone else's trackers, he could have offered some placating words, but this was Stephanie Plum, and all the evidence they had pointed toward her life being on the line. It didn't bode well for Steph, nor Ranger, who had already dedicated much too much of his heart to the woman considering they weren't yet in a relationship.

By the time he reached the streets leading to the bridge, constant images of the last time Steph had plummeted into the Delaware flashing in his mind, they were already choked with cars, emergency vehicles and pedestrians eager to catch a glimpse of the action. He was forced to abandon his own car and continue on foot, pushing through the crowds of people forming. It was loud, both aurally and visually, the flashing red and blue lights making it just as hard to hear as the cumulative voices of onlookers, first responders and journalists, all shouting to get their information across.

Ranger kept his eyes peeled for a bedraggled mop of curls, or a black clad employee. Hell, at this point he would have settled for a familiar face from the Trenton police department - Carl, Eddie, Big Dog, even Morelli - anyone who would understand the urgency of his need for information instead of just directing him to go stand behind the tape with the rest of the spectators. He needed to know if his Babe was alive, and he needed to know _now_ , before the vice tightened any further on his chest and he simply could not breathe anymore.

He slipped between an empty Rangeman SUV and a fire truck, finally stepping out onto the bridge. The scene cleared somewhat before him as the gossip hungry crowd fell away, held back by uniformed officers, leaving only essential eye witnesses, and emergency workers dotting the area. He spotted Hank with a cluster of what appeared to be firemen, peering over the edge of the bridge where a gnarled portion of guard rail had peeled away to dangle over the churning water below, and made a beeline for him. Surely he'dhave some kind of update to deliver on the Steph's status.

Ranger never made it to that cluster of men, though, because as he put one foot in front of the other, his long strides eating up the distance, a tingle was creeping up his spine, distracting him, plunging a syringe of hope directly into his bloodstream.

Stephanie.

He turned his head just in time to catch his name spilling off the tongue of his favourite mess of a woman. "Ranger!" she called, executing a limping run to reach his side and immediately wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

"Babe," he murmured, relief washing through him like a flood, extinguishing the fires of panic that had devastated his mind and body. His arms came up of their own accord, dragging her closer even though she'd already done a pretty good job of plastering herself against him. Long moments passed as they simply held each other, reassuring themselves that they were both alive and well. It wasn't until Ranger lowered his head to press his lips to her hair that he noticed, with some confusion, that she was bone dry.

"How are you not wet?" he questioned, pulling back to examine the rest of her.

She shrugged. "I decided I didn't feel like going for a swim," she said nonchalantly. "I'm having a nice hair day, so it would be a shame to ruin it with the river water."

"Babe," ranger repeated, his tone leaving no room for confusion as he ran a hand over her shoulder where a rip in her t-shirt exposed a fresh gauze bandage. He was both relieved, and amused.

Steph let out a shaky sigh, tightening her grip around her waist once more. "The car teetered on the edge just long enough for me to scramble free before it fell in," she explained quietly.

He leaned his forehead against hers, momentarily tempted to kiss her, but he figured they were both running on adrenaline right now, so it wasn't the best idea, despite what his heart _and_ head were both screaming at him. "And you say you have terrible luck," he joked, reminding her of the conversation they'd had while he'd hosed horse manure off her back last week.

"If my luck was good, I wouldn't keep almost dying," she snorted in reply.

"Almost dying is better than actually dying," Ranger countered.

"He has a point," Bobby's voice interrupted their moment as he came to stand beside them. "You're incredibly lucky you managed to get out before the car went over."

Steph rolled her eyes. "If I agree with you, will you agree to let me go home instead of to the hospital?"

"Your ankle-" Bobby started to protest, but Ranger cut him off.

"I'll take Steph back to Rangeman. She can sleep there tonight and you can check on her ankle in the morning. Then," he turned to Steph, realising too late that he probably should have asked if she was okay with going home with him before blurting out his plan. For what it was worth, though, she didn't appear to have any objections to it. "If Bobby clears you to drive, you can commandeer an SUV until you have a chance to replace your- _damn."_ This time, he cut himself off as tears quickly filled Steph's eyes and coursed down her cheeks like the river she'd narrowly avoided sinking into. "Babe?"

"Big Blue's gone!" she wailed, burying her face in his chest once more. "G-gone!"

Relieved that she was only crying over the death of the powder-blue Buick, Ranger rubbed her back in soothing circles, murmuring comforting words in Spanish while he glared at Bobby's attempts to suppress laughter. Now was not the time to be amused by the enormous, sentimental heart Stephanie had.

"Come on, Babe," he said, scooping her up into a bridal carry. "Let's get you out of here."


	4. Lightness in My Steph

It had been a while since the last time Ranger had had Stephanie Plum in his bed, and last night wasn't exactly the circumstances under which he'd imagined her return, but he couldn't deny the contented buzz in his chest when he awoke this morning with Steph's head on his shoulder, her leg thrown over both of his. After the excitement she'd had the previous evening, losing her faithful Big Blue and coming so close to joining it in the drink, she'd passed out on the couch early with Ghostbusters playing on his television. He'd taken great care not to wake her as he carried her to his bed and tucked her in before retreating to check in with his men downstairs for an update on the events that had led to his panicked sprint onto the bridge and what was being done to track down and disable the culprit. Now, he employed even more care as she delicately extracted himself from her limbs.

He went through the motions of his morning routine, pausing only to leave a note on the night stand when he left the apartment for the gym in case she woke up while he was gone and thought he'd abandoned her. He needn't have bothered, though, because when he returned an hour later, she was still fast asleep in the exact same position as when he'd left. That brought a smile to his face and he couldn't help but take the time to press a kiss to her forehead before heading to the bathroom for a shower.

Several minutes later, he was midway through a Steph-related pep talk when his phone range on the counter, slamming him with a sense of déjà vu as he quickly shut off the water and waded through the steam to the device, picking it up on the fourth ring.

"Yo," he greeted, managing to keep his voice light despite the fact that he knew exactly what was instore for him.

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?" his older sister, Celia, demanded. "You promised Mama you'd actually come to the party this time, Carlos. You told her you were looking forward to it. You even RSVP'd for once. You got her hopes up just to crush them all over again."

"Something came up," he tried to explain, but Celia wasn't having it.

"Oh, I'm sure it did," she sneered. "Something always does. What was it this time? A break-in on a high-profile account? A hostage situation? You clearly haven't been called up by the government again or you wouldn't be answering my call. I just don't understand how you can continuously let Mama down like this and still be her favourite."

Ranger shook his head, wishing he could deny it was true, but it had always been the case, which made the weight of guilt every time he had to skip a family function after promising to be there almost unbearable.

"I had every intention of being there," he tried to convince her. "I have her present gift wrapped and sitting by the door, ready to go, but-"

Celia cut him off. "I don't want to hear your excuses," she stated. "It's not me you need to ask for forgiveness." Ranger begged to differ. "If Mama means anything to you at all, you'll make it right soon rather than later."

Ranger opened his mouth – to agree with her, or try again to explain he wasn't sure – but found his words cut off once more as his sister issued one final command: "Today, Carlos." And hung up.

Unbidden, Steph's repeated complaints about his inability to incorporate basic manners into phone calls rose up in his mind. How would she react if she found out that the habit actually stemmed from his family and not the military like she thought? He felt a smile budding as he wrapped a towel around his hips, making his way through the bedroom (a glance at the bed showed that Steph was still asleep) and into the walk-in closet to dress. He left the door open, the better hear the moment Steph stirred, and had just pulled on a pair of black jeans when his phone rang again.

"Yo," he sighed into the device after checking the caller ID: sister number 2. He was pretty sure this was a coordinated attack.

"Let me guess," Marisol said without preamble. "Something came up."

"Yes," Ranger replied, forgoing explanation attempts in light of his previous phone call. Instead, he cut right to the solution. "I'll visit Mama to day to give her her present and apologise in person."

Marisol let out a disappointed hum as he stooped to retrieve a pair of sneakers from a low shelf, carrying them out to chair in the bedroom along with the socks he snagged from the draw on his way past. He still didn't have a shirt one, but he could at least multitask while yet another sibling chewed him out. And he wasn't concerned with waking Stephanie, since she'd stumbled into the bathroom just after the phone had rung for the second time.

"I just don't understand why you keep promising you'll attend these things when we all know you'll bail at the last second," Marisol accused. "Do you enjoy breaking Mama's heart over and over?"

"It brings me no pleasure at all, Marisol," he assured her. "I love Mama with all my heart, but I couldn't just-"

And just like their eldest sister, Marisol cut him off before he could roll out the very-valid-for-a-change reason for his missing the celebration. "Save your excuses for Mama," she instructed. "I assume you'll be visiting for your customary apology brunch today?"

There was no point in arguing semantics. It had happened often enough that it could be viewed as a habit. And he _was_ planning to visit his mother today. Suppressing another sigh, he kept his eyes trained on the toe of his sock to avoid meeting Steph's eye as she re-entered the bedroom. "Of course," he said.

"Good," Marisol approved, and promptly ended the call.

Ranger let his hand drop, dangling the phone between his knees, but made no effort to move any further. No matter how much good he contributed to the world. He'd always be a screw up in the eyes of his sisters. _You join one gang and steal one car in your teens and they hold it over your head for the rest of your life_ , he thought giving his head a small shake.

"I'm no expert," Steph said, crossing the space to stand before him, her bare toes digging into the plush grey carpet between his socked feet. "But that sounded like a phone call from a disapproving relative."

A smirk erased whatever storm cloud that had been shadowing his features as he lifted his head to meet her gaze. "No expert?" he challenged. He allowed himself to reach out and tug her closer by the hands but stopped before could drag her into his lap. "I would have thought you'd be the world's leading authority on the topic."

She took his cue for humour, rolling her eyes as she perched her sumptuous ass – barely covered by his shirt – on his knee. "Seems to me you've got similar credentials," she pointed out. "It's not every day the Dark Knight is cut off before he's able to offer an explanation. "So, what'd you do?"

Now Ranger was faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, he wanted Steph to know more about his family dynamic since, if he had his way, she'd be not only meeting them, but eventually becoming a part of it. But on the other, if he explained the problem, there was no way of disguising the fact that the reason he was currently in the doghouse with his sisters was directly related to the events of the previous evening when he'd dropped everything to ride to her rescue. He didn't regret his decisions for a second, but he knew the guilt would only add to the hefty weight Steph was already carrying around on a daily basis.

He must have hesitated too long, though, because before he managed to get the words out, Steph's sympathetic expression was morphing into one of realisation as she connected the dots all by herself. "Oh God," she moaned, covering her face. "You skipped your mom's birthday party for me, didn't you?"

Ranger gently pulled her hands away, maintaining eye contact as he inclined his head, trying to express without words that she was important to him and he would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant having concrete proof that she was alive and well. "Your trackers went offline as I was getting ready for the party," he explained after a moment, realising that sometimes words were the only way. "I didn't even consider the consequences. Nothing else mattered but making sure you were okay."

"But now," Steph tried to protest, but he took a leaf from his sister's books and didn't allow her to get any further.

"I'll face my sisters' ire every day for the rest of my life if means I can hold you in my arms and help your through your rough patches," Ranger confessed solemnly. He lifted a hand to caress her cheek. "I couldn't live with myself if I'd gone to the party and you'd drowned along with the car."

He wanted to tell her he loved her but didn't think it was the right time. She was still w=raw from her near-death experience, and now with the added guilt of learning about his sacrifice, she likely wasn't in the right state of mind to accept his feelings for what they were instead of just the kind of thing people say to each other in the wake of a disaster.

Her brow furrowed, pulling at Ranger's heartstrings, and he found himself opening his mouth to ask something he hadn't been planning, and therefore hadn't had the chance to consider all the consequences. "I'm going to visit Mama this morning to give her her present," he explained. "Would you like to come with me? They're probably be leftover birthday cake." And as an added bonus, he thought it would be a decent excuse for her to avoid harassment from the Burg gossipers a while longer.

Steph's view appeared to be a little different, though.

"Of course," she agreed instantly. "I have to make sure your mother understands it's my fault you missed the party. If she's going to be angry at anyone, it should be me, not you."

"Babe," Ranger objected, but before he could assure her that that had not been his intention for inviting her, she was off his lap and disappearing through the door to the walk-in 'robe to see what clothes Ella had slipped into the closet for her to discover.

*o*

There were definitely advantages to arriving at his mother's house accompanied by the gorgeous and charming Stephanie Plum, Ranger thought to himself, grinning from ear to ear. Not only had she easily smoothed over his absence at the previous night's partying by explaining about her brush with death, but the fact that she was there meant that his sisters had something other than him to focus on. He didn't even mind that they were taking the opportunity to roll out every embarrassing story there was from his childhood.

It had started when Mama had unwrapped the gift Steph had helped him pick out: a pair of novelty salt and pepper shakers, each in the iconic shape of an old school coffee pot. The pepper shaker said "Do you like your coffee black," the salt shaker finishing the enquiry, "Or with cream and sugar?" Ranger had already explained about the prank he'd pulled when he was eight, switching the salt and sugar containers to wreak havoc on his parents' Saturday afternoon coffee routine, when he'd spotted the shakers in the shop. He hadn't taken the extra step to tell her how his parents had exacted their revenge, though. The restraint he'd shown that day had repaid him enormously today as he was free to watch the carefree way her head tipped back with laughter as his mother told her in excruciating detail about his reaction to tasting the salty pancakes she'd made him eat the next morning.

By the time they were ready to leave, Steph had probably learned more about him in a couple of hours than she had in the last five years combined, and something about that was oddly satisfying.

"Thank you for bringing me," Steph said, still beaming as he backed out of his mother's driveway. "I really enjoyed meeting your family and learning that you're not as superhuman as your reputation suggests." Her voice softened a little as she peered over at him, sending a tingle down his spine. "I like seeing the man behind the mask."

"Babe," he whispered, for once using her name to express all the emotions he couldn't put words to rather than to be cryptic and push her to take the lead in a conversation and reveal her inner most thoughts. He wove the fingers of his right hand with her left, using the hold to bring her hand to his lips so he could press a prolonged kiss there as his heart soared. _This is what hope for the future feels like_ , he thought to himself as he lowered their entwined hands to his lap, gently rubbing his thumb back and forth along her knuckles. For the first time, he was confident that there was a chance that Stephanie Plum could accept him for who he was - scars, crazy family and all - and be happy to be with him.


	5. Miles Away, But I Still Feel You

It figured that just as Ranger and Steph were getting together the government would step in and throw a spanner in the works. The morning after he'd finally asked her on their first official date, he was woken by a call from his handler informing him that he had two hours to get his affairs in order before a car would arrive to whisk him away to parts unknown. Ordinarily, two hours was more than enough. He kept his duffel packed with the essentials, regularly checking, replacing and updating the contents, so he was ready to go and a moment's notice, and it would only take a handful of words to inform Tank that he was temporarily in charge of Rangeman. They had protocols in place for any eventuality that occurred after that.

That left him with an hour and a half that he would usually use to drive across town and sit silently in the chair Stephanie kept in the corner of her bedroom. He would sit there, and watch the gentle rise and fall of her chest with each unworried, unhurried breath, syphoning off that calm until the very last second before he had to leave, slipping away as silently as he had arrived. But that was before he'd allowed himself to be in a relationship with her. He couldn't bring himself to leave without a word now that they were finally together, so when he'd arrived in her bedroom that morning, instead of settling into the chair, he'd stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed behind her.

He'd trailed languid kisses over her shoulder and down her spine before gently rolling her onto her back when her breathing changed, alerting him to the fact that she was awake.

"Ranger?" she questioned drowsily, the barest hint of confusion and concern edging into her sleep-husked voice.

"I have to go, Babe," he murmured, settling a leg between hers as he nuzzled her jawline.

"Into the wind?" she clarified, sounding much more awake than a moment ago, even as she moaned from his ministrations.

"Yes." There was no other way to reply.

She sucked in a deep breath, turning to face him. Her ocean blue eyes drew him in, making him want to forget about his orders, forget that anything beyond the edge of the mattress existed, but her next question made it impossible to ignore. "How long do we have?"

"An hour," Ranger had replied, wishing he didn't have to spare the time for the commute back to Haywood so he could have stayed longer.

A look of determination chased away the fear and worry in her eyes then. Ranger had never seen anything more attractive. "I can make that work," she murmured, leaning up to seal their lips together as she ground her hips against the leg he'd used to pin her.

And make it work she had. Even now, days later in the eerie stillness of the jungle as he kept watch for the night, he couldn't shake the memory of her lips on his body, everywhere at once, her feather-soft fingertips brushing over his flesh and leaving trails of goosebumps in their wake. She hadn't let a single second of that hour go to waste, sending him off with a renewed sense of purpose: to come back and return the favour. Whether it would come before or after their rainchecked date would depend on how much her phantom touches continued to torture him before he made it back to her side.


	6. Counting Sheep

It was after midnight when Ranger met Tank beside baggage claim, his trusty duffel slung over his shoulder. The past forty-three days had been rough on his body, he had several fresh sets of stitches, his limbs ached, he was lacking in good nutrition and healthy levels of hydration, and he was overall just _exhausted_. But that didn't stop the grin spread across his face when he caught sight of the curly-haired woman beside his second in command. She looked almost as tired as he felt, bundled in his old Rutgers sweatshirt and sipping a keep cup that appeared to be filled with the best substance on the planet if the contented sigh that fell from her lips was anything to go by.

It was obvious to Ranger that she hadn't noticed him yet. In fact, knowing Tank, Steph probably had no idea why he'd decided to drag her to the airport in the middle of the night. She was mid-yawn, gazing blearily around at the people nearby as he approached the pair. He was only a few feet away when Tank finally decided to alert her to Ranger's presence with a gentle elbow nudge and a jerk of his head.

Her cerulean eyes, more vibrant than his memory gave justice to, locked on his face and he froze, waiting. They'd barely entered the relationship zone when he'd been called away, he wouldn't blame her if she'd moved on, found someone else. (Just anyone but the cop). It would hurt to step back again after finally allowing himself to acknowledge and pursue the feelings he had for her, but he would do it. For her.

He saw the moment her sleep deprived brain recognised him, though, her whole face lighting up as she surged forward, wrapping her entire body around him in a vertical imitation of the last time they'd been together. She smelled like his Bulgari green body wash, coffee and her own unique scent, a combination that was more heavenly to him than he could have predicted if you'd simply mentioned the pairing to him, though he had a feeling it had more to do with the vessel that brought the scent to his nose than the scents themselves.

"Babe," he sighed, tucking a curl behind her ear so he could see her face better.

"You're home," she breathed in reply. "Thank God you're home. I thought it was odd that Tank would insist I accompany him to the airport when there's a whole shift of Merry Men that are wide awake and eager to do his bidding. I should have made the connection. I missed you so much."

Ranger couldn't hold back any longer. He used his hold on her to press her more firmly against himself, eliminating any space left between them as he lowered his face to her and capturing her lips in the passionate kiss he'd been dreaming on for a month and a half. "I missed you, too," he breathed several minutes later when they broke apart for some much-needed oxygen. "Let's go home."

He never wanted to leave her again.

*o*

In the seventh floor apartment, Ranger gulped down a bottle of water, making a mental note to ask Bobby for something to restore electrolytes in the morning. He left Steph climbing back into the bed she'd clearly been sleeping in before Tank had dragged her out of the building so he could shower off the mission.

He'd been back state-side for three days, during which time he'd showered several times, so technically there wasn't anything of the mission left clinging to him except his new wounds and his memories, but there was nothing like luxuriating in his own shower where he knew just how to adjust the taps to get the perfect temperature, and especially knowing that his Babe had been showering there while he was away.

He stood under the spray for a long time, just letting the water loosen the tension riddled throughout his body before scrubbing away the illusion of the grime he'd emerged from the jungle with, rinsing it all down the drain and towelling off with his favourite towels that never seemed to lose their fluffiness. He returned to the bedroom in a soft pair of pyjama pants and well worn t-shirt. It wasn't his intention to hide the most obvious of his injuries beneath the clothes, it was simply his routine whenever he got back from being in the wind. The soft material was a welcome relief from the weeks of wearing the same sturdy fatigues day in and day out. The fact that it also covered the stitches holding him together from Steph's view was just an added benefit. She was bound to discover them sooner rather than later, but the worried furrow of her brow as she tracked his progress to the bed told him that she had enough to weigh on her mind for one night.

"I thought you would have been out like a light the second your head hit the pillow," Ranger whispered, sliding under the covers beside her and letting out a contented sigh as the mattress cushioned his aching body in all the right places.

"Maybe," she agreed, matching his volume as she shuffled closer to lean her head on his shoulder. "Except someone thought it would be a good idea to give me coffee at one in the morning."

"I'll call him to the mats just as soon as I've caught up on some sleep myself," Ranger murmured, stifling a yawn. Now that he was settled in his own bed with his Babe pressed against him he could tell that it wouldn't be long before he drifted off.

"No," she objected. "In a way I'm grateful because, if I'm honest, I'm afraid that if I do close my eyes and fall asleep, you'll be gone again when I wake up. Like a dream."

He rolled onto his side, ignoring the pull stitches, and brought his hand up to caress her cheek the same way he had that morning before he left. "I'm not going anywhere, Babe," he said solemnly. "I promise."

For possibly the first time in her entire life, Stephanie Plum said nothing, choosing, instead, to stare directly into Ranger's dark chocolate eyes. He could tell she was tired, but that stubborn streak of hers was refusing to let her relax, even enveloped in his secure embrace as she was. Ranger would have loved nothing more than to simply close his eyes and let himself drift off, knowing that she would eventually follow suit, and that they would both still be there in the morning, but he hated that she couldn't let herself unwind and believe it was real.

"How about I help you count some sheep, then?" he suggested, leaning up on one elbow so he could peer down into her face.

She screwed up her nose at him. "Counting sheep? Really?"

Ranger smiled lazily. "I think you'll like my 'sheep'," he assured her. Dipping his head, he pressed their lips together. "One," he murmured. He kissed her chin. "Two." Her jaw. "Three." The sensitive spot below her ear. "Four. You have to count with me, Babe."

"Is this really how you plan to put me to sleep?" she questioned incredulously, but let out a strangled gasp when he tasted her neck ("Five.")

"You'll either fall asleep from counting sheep," he informed her pragmatically, drawing on the flesh where her neck met her should. "-six- Or I'll exhaust you some other way. Now count with me." He punctuated his command with a nip at her collarbone, sliding down for better access to the rest of her body.

Steph's hands came up to cover her eyes in surrender, but she changed her mind at the last second, letting them come to rest of his shoulders instead. "Seven," she sighed, craning her head to try maintain eye contact.

Ranger kissed the swell of her breast, reveling in the keening moan that escaped her. How quickly she'd gone from worried to wanton. "Eight," he prompted after several seconds when she appeared to have forgotten how to speak, much less count.

Her eyes were heavy lidded, proving that his distraction techniques were working. "Eight," she finally gulped after a moment, nodding her head. "Eight."

Ranger kneaded the other breast, holding her gaze with his signature raised eyebrow. He hovered over the nipple, his tongue darting out to swirl around it. "And what will this one be?" he asked, blowing a lazy breath of air over it and watching it pebble.

"Nnninnnne," she groaned.

"Good," he praised, taking that sensitive bud between his lips and teasing her just enough to make her back arch off the bed before abruptly releasing her and moving on.

They only made it to nineteen sheep before Ranger's legendary control snapped and he let a wolf into the pasture, devouring her hungrily until she screamed his name in ecstasy. And of course, no one could sleep with a wolf prowling around, so they'd had to take the time to tame the beast. By the time Stephanie finally collapsed against his chest, exhausted anew and out of breath, the sun was just starting to peak in through the curtains. Ranger took a moment to put his phone on Do Not Disturb to ensure they both had enough to time to recover from the night's activities, and pulled the covers up over them both, finally allowing himself to board the train to sleep station, a satisfied smile playing at his lips.


	7. There You Are

The group of men surrounding him was silent, all eyes trained unflinchingly on him as he attempted to fight back the numbness trickling down his spine and throw together a workable plan, but his mind was in turmoil. Stephanie had been missing for hours, and if he was interpreting the video they'd just received correctly, they were now racing against the clock to finer her and – he gulped back the bile that rose in his throat – digger her up.

Ranger met Tank's steely expression across the table, alert and calculating in a way he was sure his own were not. His second command appeared to be having a much easier time processing the situation than he was. He could see the pieces of a plan falling int place behind that hard stare. He was fearful for what they might be faced with when they unearthed the coffin Stephanie had been buried in, sure, but like a good soldier, he'd pushed those emotions aside and was focusing on the facts to find a solution. Ranger did not feel like a good soldier. He couldn't wipe the image of Steph's still form as an unseen figure closed the lid on her from his mind's eye. It was difficult to tell from the footage if she was breathing, and that scared him shitless.

He'd known when he'd finally given himself permission to follow his heart and build a real relationship with her, that he was marking her as a target for all the enemies he'd ever made should they decide to exact their revenge on him. What he hadn't considered, though, was how soon they would start cashing in on it. They'd only been officially dating for six months, and already, they were emerging from the woodwork to cut him down.

Giving himself a mental shake and a firm talking to, he sent Tank the smallest of nods, authorising the man to take control of the situation since he clearly couldn't do it himself right now. Tank returned the nod, expression hardening further in acknowledgement of the great responsibility he'd just taken on. It wasn't just their friend and occasional colleague's life on the line here, it was Ranger's whole world.

"Cal, redirect all available patrols to searching cemeteries in their area and send a copy of the footage to Morelli to get the police on the case," Tank commanded. "Hector, Hank, analyse the footage, see if you can get any extra intel to narrow down the search. Names on headstones, cross match trees with social media posts, IP address, anything you can of. Start an alert to keep everyone updated on anything you find. Lester, Hal, get back to tracking Sosa, split up but take a partner, we don't wanna be caught with our pants around our ankles again. Bobby," Tank hesitated, pausing for the first time since he commenced dishing out orders. "How long do we have?"

Everyone at the table froze, their assigned tasks momentarily forgotten as all eyes turned to the medic. Ranger's knuckles turned white where he was gripping the arms of his chair. This information had the potential to break him if he let it. He was already hanging on by a thread, struggling to draw a curtain around the emotions that refused to fit back in their assigned box, and focus on his instincts and military training to do what needed to be done.

Bobby's face went blank, disconnecting his own emotions with ease in order to push through the news he needed to deliver. "Assuming it's a standard coffin," he stated, brows drawing together as he tapped a few keys on the laptop open in front of him. "It has a volume of about… eight hundred and eighty litres. That's empty." He paused a second. "Put an average sized person inside and you lose sixty something litres, so that leaves something like eight hundred and twenty litres of air, but only a fifth of that is oxygen, so that's-" More tapping at keys. "A hundred and sixty-four litres of oxygen."

The more Bobby spoke, the worse Ranger felt.

"And if a person consumes half a litre of oxygen a minute that gives Steph…" a few more taps interrupted his stream of explanation and he finally looked up from the screen, meeting first Tank's and then Ranger's gazes. "Five and half hours," he stated grimly. "Less if she wakes up and starts to panic."

 _Five and half hours_ , Ranger repeated silently, feeling that elusive calm start to seep back in.

"So the fact that she's unconscious works in our favour?" Lester checked.

Bobby nodded. "For now."

"The video is time stamped for two hours ago," Hank pointed out gravely.

_Shit._

"What happens if we don't get to her in time," Hal wanted to know. Ranger wanted to know, too, but he wasn't sure if the information would spur him into action, or shut him down completely. He was a man on the edge.

Bobby hesitated again, eyeing Ranger like he thought answering Hal's question might not be in his best interests (at least they were on the same page), but a short nod from Tank spurred him on. "As the carbon dioxide increases, she'll get sleepy and fall into a coma before her heart gives out and the rest of her body follows."

That was the straw that broke the back of Ranger's spiralling panic, finally allowing him to slam the lid on his emotions and think clearly. Thank god. He'd worked with Henry Sosa for years. They had a shared history. He could figure this out and get to Steph before time ran out. He just had to think. Why would Sosa bury Ranger's girlfriend alive? What was the significance of the act? What was the message?

And then it came to him. Sosa's own wife had died in a building that had collapsed as a direct result of an ant-terrorist action Ranger's team had launched…

His eyes snapped up to meet Tank's. "I know where she is."

*o*

It had taken an hour drive to the correct cemetery and locate the pile of heaped dirt that was the fresh grave Steph had been buried in. Ranger wasted no time taking a shovel to it, conscious of the time tick, tick, ticking away in the back of his mind, counting down the seconds to when the love of his life would be lost to him forever. He couldn't let that happen.

The men that had arrived with him seemed to be of a similar opinion as they, too, dug tools into the moist earth, tossing it away from the site. No one spoke. All their energies were focussed on freeing the most treasured member of their ranks. There was no time to let any other thoughts infiltrate their minds.

As more black SUVs tore into the cemetery, men fanned out, searching for signs of Sosa. Experience suggested that he wouldn't be far. He liked to monitor his operations closely, and Ranger wasn't about to let him come out the other end of this alive.

But his Babe was more important.

Morelli arrived with the first wave of flashing lights, surveying the dirt smudged men and the meagre progress they'd made with wild eyes before disappearing only to return a few minutes later, yelling at Ranger and the men to clear out and make space for the backhoe to do it's job.

It felt like an eternity passed as Ranger stood by, watching the hole get deeper and deeper, holding his breath. No one spoke to him. No one dared distract him from the grave. His only companions in the noisy crowd that surrounded him were his desperate prayers and the constant ticking of the clock, booming unnervingly through his head.

Finally, the machine struck wood and had to pull back. A mixed team of Rangemen and fire fighters immediately jumped down inside the hold to finish the job, shouts and instructions filling the air. Ranger moved to join them, but Tank's massive hand on his shoulder held him back. He wanted to fight it, to break free and dive inside, to be the one pull her to safety, but something about the weight of the hand, the firmness of it's grip, gave him pause. Stephanie needed him, and if he crammed himself into the whole with those other men, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't punch their lights out to be the one to lift her out of the coffin when it was finally opened. Up here there was enough room that he could easily glue himself to her side the second she emerged from below without disrupting the work of the EMTs that would definitely need to check her out.

Long moments passed, Ranger's lungs began to burn with the need for oxygen, but he couldn't draw breath until he knew if Steph could. He just stood there. Frozen. Waiting. Ticking. Praying. Terrified beyond belief.

And then…

"GOT HER!"

The cry rose up from the hole, silencing the cacophony around and inside Ranger. Everything stilled. Everything, that is, except the EMTs waiting at grave side, and the men down below as they passed the limp form that was Stephanie Plum up from within her earthen prison.

He was by her side in an instant, needing to see, needing to know.

"She's breathing," the EMT announced after a brief examination as his partner started strapping on monitors and an oxygen mask. "Pulse is strong."

"Thank God," Ranger exhaled, speaking for the first time since arriving at the cemetery. He reached out and laid a hand on her cheek, willing her to open her eyes and grace him with those beautiful baby blues. "Come on, Babe," he murmured desperately, his chest still ached despite the even breaths he was forcing himself to suck in in time with the steady rise and fall of her chest. "I'm right here. Right beside you. Now and always." And as if that was all she'd needed to hear to fight her back to consciousness, her eyelids fluttered open. Ranger could have sobbed with relief when, after a tense second, she found his face, vision clearing and focusing on him alone. "There you are," he sighed as a weight lifted from his soul. He swiped at the first tear that escaped her eyes with his thumb, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. "There you are."


	8. Feel You In My Blood

Ranger knew the second Steph entered the gym. A tingle ran down his spine, threatening to distract him from his dodging and weaving as he avoided the blows his cousin was determined to land on him. The problem with sparring with a man he'd known all his life, and helped train, was that he knew exactly how Lester's mind worked and what tactics he would use in any given situation. So when he made another advance, it took Ranger very little effort to disable him, flipping the man on to his back on the mat and holding him there with a boot to the neck.

"You're supposed to be resting," he called to the woman who had captured his attention so easily just by entering the space. "That was the agreement when Bobby sprung you from the hospital, that you rest."

"I am resting," she countered pointedly, making a show of settling herself on the bench that ran around the wall. She was still wearing the Wonder Woman pyjamas Ella had given her when she'd arrived home the previous evening, a fluffy pair of slippers adorning her feet. "But I'm not tired, and I don't want to sit alone on the seventh floor."

Ranger lifted his boot, allowing Lester to roll out from under him and scurry away. He crossed the mats in three long strides, sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap. "Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked, resting his chin on tip of her head when she melted against him.

"Do _you_?" she shot back.

Ranger stilled, pressing his lips firmly together. He did _not_ , but something told him he should anyway. Her next statement confirmed this theory.

"I woke up to you yelling my name this morning," she said quietly. "And not in a good way."

He sucked in a slow, deep breath, inhaling calm and exhaling all the tension that seized his body at her words.

The moment he'd closed his eyes last night, his sleep had been plagued with nightmares, his subconscious playing out all the ways something could have gone wrong and stolen his Babe away from him. She could have been dead before the coffin was lowered into the ground, he could have been blinded by his panic for her and not figured out where she was in time. They could have taken too long to dig her out. Over and over and over the scenarios repeated, each ending with the same blood curdling moment that he held her lifeless body in his arms, shouting at the heavens to give back to him.

"My blood ran cold when I saw you lying in that coffin," Ranger confessed, his voice barely audible against the backdrop of clanging equipment and the joking jeers of his men egging each other on. "I didn't know if you were alive or dead, but I didn't know what to do. I froze, Babe. I never freeze. I was useless. All I could think was that I'd finally gone and gotten you killed."

She shook her head, pulling back just far enough that she could meet his remorseful gaze. "Tank said you were the one that figured out where I was," she pointed out. "No one else could have made the leap. It's because of you that I'm still here."

Her words injected a fresh dose of ice into his veins, reminding him anew of how close it had been, how _because of him_ she could have just as easily _not_ been still here. But he worked to ignore those thoughts. He knew they weren't doing anyone any good. It had all worked out in the end, as she'd said, and as soon as she was feeling up to it, they'd organise a strategy meeting to ensure it never happened again.

Swallowing back his fears, Ranger allowed a soft smile to lift the corners of his mouth just a smidge. "You're getting way too good at hide and seek, Babe," he teased.

There, that was better. Nothing like a joke to wash away the very real, very raw emotions ravaging his brain.

"I don't mean to," Steph apologised, snuggling close again.

"I know," Ranger said. "But next time, do you think _I_ could hide, and _you_ seek, because I'm not sure how many more of these scares my heart can take."

Her arms tightened around him. "No, thank you," she declined. "I think I spent enough years trying to find you while you were right in front of my face. Now that you've revealed yourself, I'm not letting you out of my sight."

As much as she'd shocked his veins with ice only a few moments ago, now her words suffused him with a warmth the likes of which he'd never known. "Good point," he agreed, murmuring the words into her hair. "How about if we agree to end the game instead? No more hiding?"

Steph nodded firmly against his chest. "Deal."


	9. And I Know

Stephanie was in the shower when Ranger eventually made the short commute from his fifth-floor office to the apartment they shared on the seventh. The thought of the warm water cascading over her curves called to him, but he would be stupid not to take this opportunity she'd given him. Not after the realisation he'd had during their little chat in the gym yesterday. He'd been itching to do it ever since, but he needed a private moment and, unfortunately for him, Steph had decided now was the time to start obeying Bobby's orders and had been playing the part of the perfect patient down to the letter. She rested as much as she could tolerate in the apartment and only left to hang out with him in his office downstairs when she could no longer take the solitude.

How many times in the past had he tried to convince her to stay in the building when she was in danger only to have her sneak out at the first opportunity? But now, when all he wanted was five minutes alone in the apartment, she was suddenly content to do as he requested as if she'd never done anything different. It was at once, frustrating and comforting.

He shook his head at his thoughts. The shower would have to suffice.

Entering the walk-in closet, he made quick work of unlocking the safe hidden behind the racks of clothes, stashing his weapons and reaching all the way to the back until his fingers wrapped around a small, velvet box, slowly withdrawing it from it's secure hiding spot. He closed the safe and lowered himself to his knees in front of it, needing a moment, but aware that the moment he had left before Steph emerged from the bathroom were limited. Here and now was all he could afford himself.

He brought the box up to his lips, just holding it there for a minute while he breathed deeply, imagining he could smell that familiar, comforting scent as memories floated up in his mind, stirred to life like dust motes from a little visited part of his mind. It was still too painful. He squeezed his eyes closed, savouring each scene as it played out. When he opened them again, he gazed down at the purple velvet in his hands, a smile on his lips even as his heart filled with sadness.

 _This is right_ , he assured himself as a new sense of determination strengthened his resolve.

Done hesitating, Ranger flipped open the lid of the box for the first time since it had come into his possession three years ago. The ring was just as he remembered it. A sizeable stone, blue, but with hints of amber and green adding to it's depth and personality. A parti sapphire, he recalled, the name coming to him in his Abuela's familiar voice. _A rare and beautiful gem for the rare and beautiful woman who captures your heart and soothes your soul,_ she'd said. He'd tried to refuse it. There was no way he could accept his Abuela's own engagement ring. Not while she was still very much alive and kicking, and certainly not when there was no one in his life he wanted to give it to.

She hadn't believed him at all, of course, and rightfully so. Even then he'd been pining after a certain rambunctious brunette. Entranced by her beauty. Beguiled by her ability to bounce back from whatever life threw at her. He'd been caught in her net for years already by that point. But eventually he managed to get Abuela to agree to hold on to it for him for safe keeping. Until he was ready.

Seventeen days later, Ranger had shipped out on yet another secret government mission. They'd been coming in hot and heavy at the time, demanding he be away from his life more than he in it. When he returned from that particular trip, though, he found his world altered beyond repair. Shifted. Tipped on its side. Never to be the same again.

He'd stepped up on his mother's front porch, just the same as he had what felt like a million times before, presenting himself for her inspection to assure her that the military had once again returned him to her intact. But the second the door had opened, and his mother laid eyes on him, she'd burst into tears, grief stricken at the cruel timing of it all.

A week and a half after Ranger had disappeared into the wind, Abuela – his strong, resolute Abuela – had suffered a stroke. She'd been lucky enough to be with is mother at the time who had called an ambulance the moment she realised something was wrong and they'd gotten her to the hospital, but she'd never returned home. Her condition was too severe, her body weakened and unable to continue the fight for survival. After three days, Abuela had given in and slipped away quietly in her sleep to join Abuelo in heaven.

Ranger had missed the funeral by two days.

Mama had pulled him into the kitchen, sat him down at the same table where he'd received countless lectures growing up, served up a slice of tres leches cake for each of them and firmly pushed a purple velvet box into his hand.

"She wanted you to have it," she said when he'd just stared blankly down at it, overcome, as he was, by the news of his Abuela's death. "She gave it to me just a couple days before… before…" she shook her head, incapable of making herself say the words. "And she wanted me to give it to you with a message. She knew you'd try to say no, so she wanted me to tell you – oh, how did she phrase it?" His mother paused, as if she expected him to supply the words she was struggling to remember, but Ranger's voice had fled the scene before he'd even sat down. Even if he _had_ known the words, he wouldn't have been able to help.

"It was something like: _Now, listen here,"_ Mama had finally said, imitating her own her own mother's tone and accent with excruciating, heartbreaking accuracy. " _Boy, when you know, you'll know!"_

"And I know," Ranger whispered now, breathing deeply of the calming presence the memory supplied. He ran his thumb over the satin that hugged the ring the same way Abuela used to do to his knuckles when she was imparting her hard-earned wisdom on his unworthy ears. "I know."

"Know what?" Steph asked, startling him out of his reverie as she stepped through the doorway.

He smiled over his shoulder at her, taking in the fresh pyjamas she'd put on, these ones batman themed. Ella was spoiling her again. Making no effort to hide the ring box from her view, he slowly spun around on his knees, steadying himself by adjusting to a one-kneed, one-footed position as he beckoned Steph to him with his free hand.

 _Now or never,_ he thought. _No more hiding._

"Ranger?" she questioned, her wide eyes flicking between his position and the object in his hand.

"Stephanie Michelle Plum, will you marry me?"


	10. Next to Mine

"Where are you?" Stephanie's voice demanded over the phone the second he accepted the call.

Ranger glanced at his surroundings just to confirm that he hadn't been transported anywhere without his knowing while he'd had his head buried in his work. "My office," he replied once he was sure. "I'm just finishing up."

"And then?" she prompted.

Something told him the gig was up. Her tone was not only suspicious, but accusatory. She was definitely onto him. She'd figured him out like always. "And then dinner and an early night," he said, playing along, but only giving enough information to answer the question she'd asked without revealing incriminating details. "Big day tomorrow," he added for good measure.

She wasn't impressed. Nor was she fooled. "Dinner and an early night _where,_ Carlos?" she questioned.

Yep, she'd definitely figured out his agenda. There was no point in trying to deny it now, it would only return to bite him on the ass later. Leaning back in his oversized desk chair, he let out a sigh, but couldn't keep the smile from his face. He loved that she wasn't afraid to call him out. In all his adult life, he'd never found another woman with the moxie to stand up to him. At least, not one that he wasn't already related to. That's what made her so perfect for him. She saw through his bullshit to who he was and what he was doing underneath it all. She understood his intentions and didn't hesitate to correct his misguided assumptions.

"Tank's," he admitted fearlessly. He always did like to live on the edge.

"You're having a sleepover with Tank?" she deadpanned making Ranger wonder, not for the first time, if it was the wrong answer. "Are Lester and Bobby invited too? Gonna play video games and prank call your crushes?"

"Babe." His smile expanded into a full-blown grin, erasing his worry.

"Don't _Babe_ me," she snapped. It sounded like she was on the move, her footsteps carrying down the line, doors opening and closing, the chiming of the building's elevator. She'd be standing before him in less than a minute. "Why have you decided to spend the night at Tank's?" she challenged.

Ranger flipped the file he'd been working on closed – it could wait a week, and if it couldn't, Tank could handle it – and started shutting down his computer. He was fairly certain she wasn't going to let him get anything else done tonight. "It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding," he pointed out as the elevator chimed again, announcing her arrival on the command floor. Finished with the computer, he pushed back his chair and strode to the door, opening it just as his Steph reached the other end of the short hall.

"That's a load of bullshit," she informed him, a condescending sneer compressing her features. "An outdated tradition. So unless my family is paying you in livestock to take me off their hands, you best be marching your butt up to the seventh floor with your tux and the overnight bag you thought I wouldn't notice you'd snuck out, because I am _not_ bowing down to yet another arbitrary societal expectation."

Finally reaching his door, Stephanie hung up the phone, shoved it into the pocket of her skin tight jeans, and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him the same way she did when he suggested she might like to join him for his early morning run. "Well?" she prompted when he'd said nothing, struck anew by how gorgeous she was, and how lucky he was that she wanted to be with him.

"I thought you might like to have the apartment to yourself while you're getting ready in the morning," Ranger tried a different angle.

Her brow furrowed. "Just how much space do you plan on taking up for your own preparations?" she asked, a laugh breaking through her impetuous posture. And before he could come up with a reply, she shook her head, took a single step to the side and thumped on Tank's office door with the side of her fist.

He opened it a second later, his expression a stifled mixture of curiosity and amusement. He'd probably been listening in. "Steph," he greeted, playing the game just the way Ranger had at the beginning of their phone call - maybe Ranger wasn't the only one who liked to flirt with danger. "How can I help?"

"You'll have to play video games and call your crush by yourself tonight," she replied forcefully, leaving no room for misunderstanding. "Ranger's not coming for a sleepover."

Tank grinned, showing every single one of his gleaming white teeth as he met Ranger's gaze over Steph's shoulder, a knowing look in his eyes. He'd called it. "Yes, ma'am," he acquiesced, his expression unchanged as his attention slid back to her. "You kids have fun." And with that, he backed slowly into his office once more, closing the door between himself and the happy couple.

*o*

Upstairs later that night, Ranger and Steph were sprawled on the bed in their usual tangle of limbs, thoroughly spent as their sweat mingled on exposed flesh, breaths slowing from ecstatic gasps to contented sighs. There was nothing in the world that could have wiped the grin from Ranger's face in that moment. This time tomorrow he would be married to the woman of his dreams, the greatest love of his life, and they'd be starting their life together as husband and wife.

"Good call, Babe," he said, trailing feather-soft caresses up and down her spine as he stared at the ceiling, willing his heartbeat back to a normal resting rate. "That was so much better than video games at Tank's house."

Steph craned her head back to peer at him, inadvertently pressing herself more firmly against his side and awakening his little soldier once more in the process. He immediately gave it the order to stand down, though, when he caught the look in her eyes. "Just so we're clear," she said, a tiny wrinkle appearing between her brows as she searched his face. "I'm not saying you can't hang out with Tank. I know you need down time with your friends sometimes. We just only get one wedding eve and I didn't want- I just wanted-"

"Relax, Babe," he interrupted easily picking up on what was causing her to worry and kissing away the crease. "I know. And so does Tank. In fact, he wagered that you would want us to stay together tonight."

That brought a shining smile to her face, chasing away the clouds that had been shadowing her expression. "How much do you owe him?"

"Twenty."

"That'll teach you to bet on your fiancée," she said flippantly, flopping onto her back so that they were now lying side by side and shuffling further up the bed so she could share his pillow.

"I can absolutely guarantee that I will never bet on my fiancée again," Ranger promised solemnly, twining their fingers together and dragging them up to his lips. "Because after tomorrow I will no longer have a fiancée." He mentally kicked himself the second the words left his mouth and he saw her expression fall, sending a surge of worry through his chest. "Babe, you're not nervous, are you?" he questioned. Now her insistence on him not leaving her side despite tradition was making more sense. Probably, the second she'd noticed his garment bag missing from the wardrobe and realised what he'd intended, she'd been on her phone, googling if it was _actually_ bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the wedding. That would explain her line about livestock. She was suffering a case of the pre-wedding jitters.

"Of course, I'm nervous," she confessed quietly, keeping her gaze trained on the ceiling above them. "The last time I got married it ended in disaster. And your track record isn't all that crash hot either. Aren't you concerned we're making a mistake? We've only been together a year. What if-"

"Babe," he said firmly, turning just his head to look at her. "It's not a mistake. It could never be a mistake. I've loved you since the first moment I met you."

Her gaze snapped to meet his. "What?" she whispered

Ranger nodded. "Six years. The second you sat down across from me in that diner and made fun of my grapefruit breakfast I knew you were the only one my heart could accept." When she just stared at him, he considered her jitters disabled, and went in for the kill shot. "Everything is exactly how it's supposed to be," he assured her. "We can face whatever the next phase in our lives throws at us, and it will all be fine, so long as your head is resting next to mine every night."

Just in case his secret weapon wasn't enough to keep her doubts at bay, Ranger captured her lower lip between his teeth, nibbling delicately before giving in to the fire burning through his veins once more and quickly peppering kisses down her stomach to the promised land where he was greeted by a fresh flood of her desire. "Maybe we should try to relax and get some shut eye," he suggested, gazing up her body and into her darkening blue eyes. "It wouldn't do to yawn through our own wedding ceremony." And before she could agree or disagree with the suggestion, he lowered his lips to the supple flesh of her inner thigh, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. "Better start counting sheep," he said, moving to the other thigh to give it the same treatment.

"One!" Steph gasped.

Ranger grinned like the wolf he was, teeth grazing her skin as he moved closer to where he knew she wanted him _. She's all mine_ , he thought triumphantly to himself before delving in for more. Whatever the future brought, he could rest easy knowing that Stephanie Plum would always be there, right beside him, ready to tackle it all head on. They'd get through it all. Together.

**_And They Lived Happily Ever After :)_ **


End file.
